Red Fate
by Wash in with WAVES
Summary: Namine, she's an insecure girl with no hope for her love life. Roxas, a cold anti-social guy who doesn't want anything to do with relationships. Something was bound to happen when these two met, and indeed something did. A new trust. RokuNami AU
1. Through Crowds And Music, I Found You

_**Disclaimers - I don't own Kingdom Hearts. All characters belong to Square Enix. Story plot and any OC belongs to me, thank you very much.**_

**Author's Note - **Hello, reader. So, I decided to begin my first Kingdom Hearts fic, but you know, I don't think this is going to go anywhere, but I'll see. I don't know. I pray there's one fanfiction I have that's successful. Maybe this will be the one?

Red Fate

- by -

_WASH IN WITH WAVES_

. x .

"Love is life. If you miss love, you miss life." ~ _Leo Buscaglia_

You were as quiet as the calm wind,

And made me feel nervous,

But I had just met _y o u_.

Sometimes, I wonder...

How I made _y o u_ feel.

- - **Chapter One **- -

Through Crowds and Music, I Found You

.

..

_"This is where our story began."_

Namine Qualia groaned and shook her head slowly at her favorite, most precious cousin, though she would never let her other cousins hear that. Her cousin Kairi was persistently trying to convince the shy blonde to attend one of the biggest parties of the year. One reason Namine had to go was because she had never even gone to a party even when they were in high school. Another reason was because she was going through a mourning period after recently breaking up with her boyfriend of six months, Seifer Almasy, but even Namine had to admit, she knew it was never going to last.

Namine's mind was filled with hesitating thoughts. Should she go just to fulfill Kairi's wish... or should she not because she knew Seifer was going to probably be there? It would be totally awkward, and then she would end up rushing out of the place before the real party actually started, and thus, disappoint her cousin.

"But..." Namine sucked in a breath sharply, and rubbed her arm, trying to muss up an excuse. "Seifer'll be there, and I don't think I can do it." She felt sick to her stomach.

Kairi sighed and rested her hands on her curved hips. She gave Namine a serious look, and tilted her head at an intimidating angle. Namine gulped and forced her gaze to wander around the their dorm room.

"Namine, if you can barely look at him, how are you gonna get over him? C'mon, you're already your third year in college, and you've never been to a single party! I promise you. You're gonna have so much fun, you won't even think about Almasy."

Kairi grabbed both of Namine's shoulders and shook them before holding them steady. Namine felt the weight of Kairi's strength and waited for what her cousin was going to say. "Namine, you're shy, but this is your biggest chance to get over it! By tomorrow morning, you'll realize I'm doing you a huge favor. What's even better is that tomorrow, neither of us have any classes, so there's nothing to worry about."

"I still have a history paper to write," Namine quickly blurted. She was trying to think of anything that would get her out of this situation.

Kairi stared at her and gestured towards Namines desk which she used to study and work on assignments. "Then what's that perfect stack of paper right there? Oh," Kairi said in a oblivious tone.

The redhead walked over and picked up the stack of papers. She skimmed over the heading and in a kind attitude, pointed something out to Namine. "Is this the paper you didn't finish?"

Namine smiled weakly and shrugged her shoulders. "It's a rough draft?"

"Why's there a sticky note on it that says 'Final Draft?'"

The timid blonde snatched the purple sticky note off her report, crumpled it, then tossed it over her shoulder like superstitious people did with salt. Namine smiled innocently and kept both of her hands folded behind her back. "What sticky note?" she asked.

Kairi groaned in frustration and threw her arms around. She wanted to pull her hair out desperately. "You are going to go to the party!" Kairi emphasized while nearly shoving her face in front of Namine's.

"No!"

Kairi grabbed faded dark blue skinny jeans from Namine's bed and chucked it at her. "Put those on, because you're going!" she seethed, and nearly scared the living daylights out of Namine with her death glare.

Namine shook her head obstinately. "No!"

Kairi clasped her hands together and shook her hands in a begging manner. She even got down on her knees and dramatically pleaded at the blonde. "I beg you! Just this one party! I won't ever ask you again!"

Namine frowned and furrowed her eyebrows apologetically. Kairi got the message even though the blonde hadn't said anything. Kairi sighed and shook her head. She was hoping she didn't have to use her trump card, but this was necessary.

The irritated redhead walked over to the door and stuck her head. She inhaled a lung load of air and practically screeched, "Selphie!" The power and echo in Kairi's voice frightened Namine and made the hairs on her skin stand up.

Instantly, a brunette with emerald green eyes came sprinting down the hall like some track star. She abruptly halted when she had arrived in front of their dorm room. With a sweet, perfect smile, Selphie greeted her friends. "Hey, Kai. Nami being a nuisance?" the brunette in pig tails asked while entering the room.

Kairi rolled her violet blue eyes. "You have no idea."

Namine held her hands up and tried to ease Kairi's anger. "Please, don't be mad, Kai. It's just, I don't think I need to go th-"

"Well, there's no point in saying no anymore," Selphie pointed out and walked over to the closet. "Because once I'm here, the decisions final, and I say, you're going."

Namine whimpered and lowered her head, defeated. It was true. She hadn't known the hyperactive brunette long, but she knew her long enough to know that Selphie was the girl who would always get her way despite how much protest one could put up. Namine sat down on her mishap bed, then fell back. She grabbed her teddy bear and hugged it tightly.

"I promise you, Namine. Everything will be fine. You're just overreacting a tad too much," Kairi reassured once more. She smiled widely and pulled Namine back up onto her feet by her hands. "Hurry, and get changed into a new outfit!"

Namine sighed and nodded sullenly.

"We're gonna make you look so smoking hot, every guy wish you were their babe, and Seifer'll wish you were still his," Selphie squealed and energetically clapped her hands together. "Okay, go put these on." She handed Namine a pile of clothes and ushered her towards the bathroom.

Once, the two other girls heard the bathroom door click and the lock was turned, Kairi turned to look at Selphie and smirked smugly. "Oh, this is gonna be good."

"Hell, yes."

Namine was finally able to finish changing her outfit, and she slowly emerged out of the bathroom. She spun around and paused to ask her two friends for their opinion. "Do I look alright?" Namine asked while biting her lip.

Kairi felt like crying. Her baby cousin was going to come out of her chrysalis tonight and become an adult butterfly. "Selphie, you're a genuis."

The girl with sparkling emerald eyes swayed her hip to one side and flicked her wrist. "I know."

Namime couldn't help but smile, and look at herself in the full view mirror. She was wearing a black tank underneath a gray long sleeve top that hung around her shoulders. The top had intricate designs drawn about on the cotton fabric, and it was a popular brand known as Fenrir. And it was an expensive brand at that. She wore a midnight black skirt that was a few inches above her knees. She wore black knee high socks that were to be accompanied with simple dark blue flats. Her head was adorned with a headband with a large black rose sticking out from one side, and around her neck, were layers of chained necklaces.

Namine frowned as she stared a little longer at her reflection. Her appearance just didn't look right. It just wasn't... her. No, this was only for a party. Dressing like this once in a while wouldn't hurt.

"We should be going now," Namine said.

Selphie held up a finger and rummaged through her purse, pulling out a small pouch. "Just a little make-up." The fashion diva applied a quick swipe of mascara on each row of eyelashes, and outlined her eyelids with eyeliner. "And... just a little lip gloss, and we're ready."

"Um, thanks, Selphie."

"You're gonna have a ton of guys drooling at your feet like you're some goddess," Kairi complimented as they headed for the door. Her words caused Namine's to turn a shade of pink. Namine was the type to be easily flattered, and anybody could embarrass her anytime. When she was embarrassed, she would stutter occasionally, and turn into a total klutz nightmare.

As they seated themselves into Kairi's gray car, Namine asked, "Where exactly is the party?" She made herself comfortable in the back seat, remembering to strap on her safety belt while she was at it.

"It's at somebody's house. It belongs to some rich guy who goes to our college. I hear he's like this insane daredevil, oh, and he's one of the guitarists in his band," Kairi explained.

Selphie nodded in agreement to the information, and it seemed like her turn to continue the explanation. She twisted around to look at Namine from over her seat. "Yup, and his parents don't even care if he wrecks the house, and it's supposed to be huge and extravagant. They practically bought it for him personally, but he hardly ever throws parties this big. It's like an every year thing when college starts for the freshmen, and someone told me it's berserk. Neither of us know, because this is our first time going to one of his parties."

Namine was not very intrigued by whoever this person could be. "What's his name?"

"Demyx," Kairi said and kept her focus while driving simultaneously. "He wasn't even the one who invited me. You know Sora?" The blonde nodded. "Well, Demyx told Sora to invite his own friends, me being one, and he said let your friends invite their own friends and so on."

Namine's jaw dropped. The guy sounded like a spoiled brat, but she wasn't the one to say that, considering the fact she's never even met him.

"We're here!" Kairi shouted and parked by the curb. Namine's eyes widened when she watched the sight in front of her. Music was blaring, maybe enough to deafen a person, and lights were flashing about from the inside of the house- no, it was a mansion. People were inside the house, out in the front lawn, and of course, they would be out in the back yard. Hell, two people were even on the roof!

"How many people do you reckon is in there?" Namine questioned while leaning forward in her seat to look at Kairi.

Her cousin giggled and shrugged. "No clue, but this is gonna be awesome." Kairi opened her door, and so did Selphie. The two of them stepped out of the car, but Namine was completely hesitant. "Get out of the car, Nami!"

The small blonde gulped and clutched the handle of the door. So many people. It made her feel nauseous, because she had always despised large gatherings. They just weren't her thing.  
>Namine took a deep breath then stepped out of Kairi's car. "Here I go," she said to herself tentatively.<p>

"C'mon," Selphie whined and grabbed her wrist, pulling her to the front door.

They entered the house, and they could not believe how many people there were. It was like pure, idiotic chaos had been unleashed. Namine told herself she wouldn't live for tomorrow after tonight ended.

Namine turned around to say ask Kairi and Selphie something, but they had vanished. She sighed and stomped her foot out of frustration. Namine slowly ventured into the crowd and everyone brusquely shoved her around, getting a few jabs and kicks from wild, drunk dancers. "Are you ready for the drinking contest?" a voice shouted from the living room. Namine's ears perked up due to the exclamation. Drinking contest?

She made her way into the living room. Of course, it was crowded, but she had managed to get in the front. People to her left and right were cheering and pumping their fists into the air. She even had to slightly duck her head to avoid from getting accidentally punched.

"Who will take on the champion, Axel Emalf?" the man shouted. He was like the announcer of some game show. He was short, and not a big catch, but was decent looking with his styled faux hawk and peculiar violet eye.

Apparently so, the champion was the flame-head who was standing on the dirtied antique coffee table. The way they abused the furniture made Namine cringe. He had his arms thrown up in the air, and he nodded his head proudly. When he did this, everybody around the table seemed to cheer louder.

Namine regretted looking at the announcer, because their eyes connected for one measly second, and a smirk crept onto his face deviously. She gulped and felt the blood drain out of her cheeks. "You there, miss! Let's see if you can beat the champion!" he shouted and pointed his index finger at her squarely. This could not be happening. She couldn't win, not in a million years! Did they expect someone like her to drink like a maniac?

Namine quickly shook her head, and tried to say no, but peer pressure got the best of her in no time. A girl standing next to her screamed in her ear and told her just go for it. These people were freaking insane! Someone behind her gave her a forceful push, and she stumbled to the center of attention. She didn't want to look like a huge wimpy coward in front of what felt like the entire world, so her mind made her go. Her visage was a gloomy grimace as Axel stepped down from the table. From across, they stared at each other.

The appearance he had intimidated her ever so much. He had two upside triangular tattoos under his eyes, and his hair was mussed up into spikes. She couldn't even tell if he had dyed his hair or if it was natural.

Her showed innocence and weakness while his was burning with pride and confidence.

"Alright, let's start this!"

People cheered. Skillfully, shot glasses were being filled with alcohol by someone who had stepped in with it, and Namine's eyes widened when she counted how many were in front of her. Twenty-six, there was. Could she even make it a fraction that far?

Axel cracked his head by bending his neck from side to side. Evidently, there were two sickening cracks that sent chills up her spine. "Don't give up too soon, babe. 'Cause I'm still way too sober." He smirked, and they picked up their first shot glass in sync.

Namine closed her eyes and threw her head back and let the intoxication flow down her throat and into her system. She dropped the glass on table, causing a light clatter and looked at her opponent. It almost looked like he was sipping tea.

The alcohol burning and sizzled against the walls of her throat, but soon, she felt like she could keep going.

She picked up the second glass and drank it but with less hesitation. Her actions only seemed to amuse the flame-head even more.

They continued the process, and Namine could feel her sane mind chip away into happiness and dizziness. They had just finished their twentieth cup, and a faint, pink blush was settled on Namine's face. Axel was looking a bit disorganized, too, but did his best to keep composure. Though, Namine could tell he had way more control than herself.

Someone placed their hand on her shoulder. She looked over, and say what was the beautiful boy she had ever seen. Even though her vision was deathly blurry, she could clearly see his crystal ocean blue eyes. "I think she's had enough," he said. The crowd booed at his words, and he whipped everybody a glare. They recoiled back and looked away, not wanting to see the glower a second longer.

Axel chortled drunkenly. "She's fine, Rox."

She hiccuped and nodded her head in agreement. She shook him off and grabbed the next glass. She had almost tripped over her own feet. It was getting more and more difficult to stay still. "Yeah!" she blubbered.

The audience cheered and applauded at her sudden boldness.

The person who had tried to interfere had taken five steps back, and allowed them to continue their little drunken game.

Namine gulped down her twenty-first round, and threw the cup onto the floor. This received more praise and screams, and she couldn't help but let a sloppy smirk reach her face. Before Axel even had time to reach down for the next round, she was already finished. In his mind, this was not what he was expecting. He had thought the girl would pass out way before this. She was something else.

He finished off his cup quickly, so they could proceed to the twenty-third round.

Right when he picked up the shot, something inside his stomach lurched forward, causing him to clutch his abdomen out of reflex. Everyone held their breath, and Namine paused, removing the glass away from her mouth to see what was going to happen.

Axel's cheeked puffed up, and next, liquified vomit spewed from his mouth like a waterfall. He gagged and fell back, and was lucky enough to have someone catch him before he fell. Namine finished off her victory cup, and threw her hands up in the air. Everyone was silent, but the cheers grew as individuals realized that she had defeated the streak-winning champion. "And, we have a winner!" The man leaned over and whispered in her ear, "Uh, what's your name?"

"N-Namine."

"Give it up for, Naaaaaamine!"

The crowd slowly dispersed, and soon the game had officially ended, and someone was cleaning up the puddle of vomit. She thanked everyone for the congratulations and turned around, but only ended up bumping into the man from before. "Oh, excuse me. I n-hic- need the bathroom," she said with a random giggle. Her mind felt happy for no reason. At the moment, she couldn't tell it was the alcohol, but everyone else knew it was obvious. He gave her a stoic look and stared at her monotonously. "Do you know where it is?"

"Nope," she sang and lightly tapped his nose with her finger.

He sighed gruffly. "Do you need help finding it?" The question was slightly stretched due to annoyance.

Namine dropped her smile, and tried to process his question. Her childish smile had come back as fast as it had left. "Okay."

"Follow me."

He led her into a hallway that was deserted. It was dim, and there were three doors on each side of the walls. He turned the polished silver knob of the first door on the left and helped her inside since she was stumbling around quite a bit. "Where's the toilet?" she groaned, but didn't need him to tell her where, because she immediately spotted the white porcelain toilet and dived for it.

Namine barfed up all the alcohol, and groaned miserably. Her eyes were droopy, but after a few moments of silence, pale blue eyes widened. She felt more confused than happy like before. "What happened?" she asked while looking around the bathroom. It was amazingly about the size of her dorm room. Her nose scrunched up when she realized how large the bathtub was. Rich, spoiled kid, she grumbled mentally.

"You were challenged by Axel in a drinking competition. It ended like five minutes ago. You don't remember?" Roxas tried to jog her short memory and knelt down to dab her forehead with a damp washcloth. The coolness helped clear her fuzzy mind, and she was beginning to remember what had happened.

"And, you won, surprisingly." Roxas sighed and took her hand. He opened her clenched palm and plopped a small, white pill in her hand. "It's a headache reliever."

Namine stared at it and blinked. She shook her head and coughed. She stood up wearily, knees a bit shaky. She rested her hand on the corner of the sink to regain enough balance to walk. Namine lightly touched her pulsating head. It was going to be a very long time before she ever drank again. Plus, it had to wait, because she was still underage. How could she have forgotten that key fact?

Roxas chuckled and ran a swift stride through his dirty colored hair. "You're already drunk as hell, and it's only been about an hour and a half since the party started."

"I think I can do something to kill the time. When does this all end?"

He simply shrugged and stuffed his hands into the back of his jean pockets. "Dunno. Maybe around two in the morning. It's about nine thirty if you're wondering."

Namine frowned. "Oh my..."

"You know," Roxas blurted, causing her to flinch from surprise. He rubbed the back of his head and bowed his head apologetically. He continued his sentence, "At about ten, I'm singing with my band outside." He shrugged and tried to look away from her blank gaze. Honestly, after getting a good look at her physical appearance, she sure was beautiful. He was quite fond of the outfit she was wearing.

"Are you any good?" Namine asked in a light tone.

"Um..."

"Wait, so very sorry. Very rude of me," Namine said with a big bucket of freaking embarrassment. Such a ditz with words and tones sometimes.

"It's nothing," he mumbled with not much assurance, still leaving poor Namine guilty about her silliness. "I think I'm a pretty decent singer."

"I'll look forward to it then." She smiled brightly. "I think I'm gonna go look for my friends now. They wandered off somewhere right when we walked through the door."

"Oh, I'll see you later then." He waved a stiff hand awkwardly. It was almost like a robot.

"Yeah. Thanks for helping me." The words slipped out of her mouth quickly, and she fled out of the bathroom door, slamming it loudly.

Roxas frowned and stared at the the place she was just standing in. He sighed and shook his head. It wasn't healthy to associate with weird people. His head bent back and his eyes climbed skyward to the ceiling. Forgetting it would be better. She didn't even ask for his name which meant they could still be two complete strangers once the night ended. He would have nothing to worry about, because he was the type of broody guy who didn't have love as an option. At least, since that one incident with his last girlfriend.

Relationships were... pure trouble, and he damned them.

Namine pushed her way through the clusters of people. She spotted the redhead she was looking for. Standing by the base of the oak spiral staircase was Kairi. Namine reached out and grabbed her cousin's arm, pulling her away from her conversation with the spiky-haired brunette Namine remembered as Sora.

"What're you doing? I was kind of talking to somebody," Kairi pointed out in a rather loud voice irritably. Namine rolled her eyes and the headache she had worsened. The shouting of screaming of people and the blaring up tempo music in the background combined with Kairi's nagging, it did not help soothe her throbbing headache.

Kairi crossed her arms and tapped her foot, waiting for at least a believable explanation.

"I'm sorry I interrupted your quality time with your wonderful boyfriend," Namine retorted sarcastically.

Kairi's cheeks brightened to a light pink, and she glanced at Sora who was standing there patiently with a crooked grin on his lips. She turned around and defended herself. "He's not my boyfriend," she said in an almost dream-like voice.

"Okay, I'm sorry I intervened your talk with you and your friend who is a boy who you exceptionally like very much," the blonde corrected teasingly. Kairi scowled at her, making the blonde snicker. "How's your night so far?"

"Well, ate some barbeque and talked to Sora like the entire time." Kairi couldn't help but smile when she said his name. "Selphie was with us, too, but she wandered off with her own boyfriend. What about you?"

Before Namine even told Kairi about how much she drank and how she defeated Axel at his own game, she was totally debating whether she should have or not. It was a funny thought. Her innocent little self getting drunk, and it was before the real party even started. Namine laughed a little at her past actions and decided to inform her cousin of her night instead of letting her find out by herself.

"I played the drinking game against Axel five minutes after we came to the party, and beat him. Made it to twenty-three shots, I think."

Kairi's jaw dropped, and her mouth was just a round 'O.' "Holy shit, no way," she said. Kairi couldn't hold in her excited laugh, and she clapped her hands whilst jumping up and down. "Don't you feel sick?"

"I threw up once, but now I just have this stupid killer headache, but I can barely remember playing. It's kinda weird, huh?" Namine smiled. She left out the part where the blonde guy came in to help her find the bathroom before she had puked everywhere. Oh, what was his name?

"Namine? Are you okay, buddy?" Kairi said with a tone of concern. Namine snapped out of her daze and shook her head. "I'm alright. I'm gonna go outside to the backyard. Someone told me there's gonna be a band."

Kairi's perfect ocean eyes widened, and she pointed her index finger at Sora. "Yeah, he's in the band! Now that you mention it, shouldn't you be out there to help then set up?"

Sora blinked and looked at his cell phone. A wave of shock slapped him in the face cruelly as he panicked. "Shit, it starts in ten minutes! I gotta get out there! Sorry, I'll see you later, Kairi!" He shouted while ramming his way through the crowd and out the backdoor.

Kairi giggled, and Namine snickered. "You so like him," Namine accused, giving Kairi a smug look.

The wine-haired girl cupped her own cheeks with her hands and swayed back and forth. "He's so dreamy," she said with a love-sick sigh.

"Weirdo."

Kairi grabbed Namine's arm and started to pull her to the back door. "Let's go, I wanma get front view in the crowd!"

The pushy cousin practically had to claw their way to the front, and in Namine's opinion, she was being extensively vicious. Being dragged around like a ripped up rag doll by Kairi wasn't really fun, but she guessed that's how girls who were in love acted.

Kairi tapped Namine's shoulder relentlessly and pointed to the stage. "Look, look! They're up now!"

Namine's cobalt eyes flickered in wonder when the blonde man had stepped out and walked to the very front of the stage, facing the entire audience who had gather to see the band play. She wasn't expecting him to be the lead singer.

He grabbed the microphone and held it up to his mouth to speak. He stood up straight and gave everyone a blank stare before talking. "Hey, some of you may know. We're Unversed." He gestured to the four other males behind him. He was about to continue talking, but cheering from the crowd interrupted him. Two were holding guitars, one was playing drums, and the last was playing the keyboard. Namine recognized the drummer to be Sora, Kairi's little secret, but obvious crush.

What surprised Namine was that one of the bass guitarists had been Axel. He looked a bit lazy, and to her, it seemed like he had forced out a smile half-heartily. She knew he was still feeling sick. It was written all over his damn face. "We'll be playing covers, a two song requests, and one of our originals. In no specific order. We'll most likely be here all night, so I hope I don't lose my voice." Namine cringed inwardly, because his announcement was terribly executed, and she concluded that he wasn't the best speaker in the world.

His voice was awkward, tense, and downright edgy; not very care free if you asked her, or anybody else in that matter. She wondered if he even wanted to be on the stage at all. "If you'd like to make a song request, there are pieces of blank paper right here," he paused and pointed to a amplifier that was sitting on the ground. There was a small stack of paper, and a glass jar which oddly resembled a gold fish bowl, sat next to the pile.

"Write the name of the song, artist. You have an option to put your name or a note. After you finished writing, fold it up and stick it into the jar. We'll pick that way. Please be flexible. We may not know all the songs you request, so forgive us if this occurs," he finished, slightly nodding his head towards the crowd. He shifted behind the microphone stand, and placed the microphone back into its place, fiddling with the height of the black rod to his content.

"We'll begin singing in five minutes. Take this time to write your requests."

Namine bit her lower lip when everyone around her including Kairi, began moving toward the pieces of paper. She had wanted to make a request herself, but while everyone was bustling around like maniacs, no way could she do it. All the sheets of paper were probably going to run out in a flash.

She was violently shoved to where the edge of the stage was. She yelped when she back was impacted, and growled irritably. Damn, uncivilized jerks. Would it kill them to at least be a bit more gentle? Maybe form a single filed line, and tune down the volume of their voices? Unorderly pricks.

Something behind her rapped on her shoulder, and jumped up, spinning around to see what it was. Namine was looking up at the man who had helped her find the bathroom. He was kneeling down on one knee, and he held a piece of paper and pen in one hand. Their eyes connected, and it seemed like they froze in their position.

Namine slowly took the offer, but never removed her stare from his perfectly built face. After realizing she had been staring too long, she tore her eyes away and could feel her face heat up like a furnace.

"W-Wait!" Namine called before he stood back up. "What... is your name?" she asked timidly.

He gave her a perplexed frown, and she noticed his fists were shaky and clenched. It made her regret ever asking. He opened his mouth and hesitantly answered, "Roxas."

"Namine," she replied.

He blinked and stood back up, turning around and walked towards his friends.

Namine looked down at the paper, and wrote her request. It was her favorite song, and she hoped they knew it.

She fought her way to the amplifier, and dropped her folded paper inside.

* * *

><p><strong>Author's Note - <strong>Did you know, **review** and **criticism** are my two best buds? Please? I'd like to know how this went. I want to know!

Kay, alright.

Lates, my readahs!


	2. Don't Close Your Eyes

Hey, thanks for tuning in!

Just wanted to say, thanks for reviewing! Though there were only four for the first chapter, I'm still a happy, little girl! Thank you for your support :

**Alex Akita or Akita for short**

**rushninja**

**XShiori-chanX**

**and that other person who anonymous'd...**

Love you all, mwah! (Don't take that kiss, I have AIDS.) :D

All of your reviews just mean so much to me, I could kick a dog. Cuz, seriously, I prefer cats over dogs.

* * *

><p><span>Red Fate<span>

- by -

_WASH IN WITH WAVES_

. x .

_"You were born special."_

. x .

"'Stay' is a charming word in a person's vocabulary." -Louisa may Alcott

**R**ed** F**ate brought us this moment.

**I** was quite surprised,

**B**ut** I** guess it made me happy.

. . .

**F**or** O**nce.

**- - Chapter Two - -**

_Don't Close Your Eyes_

.

..

Roxas had just finished singing the last chorus of the second song, and the moment was finally there. The moment that made Namine's heart stop, and her mind's anticipation bursted around every corner. She wanted Roxas to choose her song oh-so badly, but what were the odds? There were probably one hundred other requests in there.

Roxas's hand sunk into the glass jar and the papers rustled against each other. He pulled one out slowly and unfolded it, briefly skimming his pretty blue eyes over the written words. His lip twitched. He brought the microphone closer to his mouth, to the point where they were nearly touching. "Nine In The Afternoon by Panic! At The Disco. Requested by Namine."

Shock just slapped her in the face like a cranky old woman. Her mouth gaped and she stood there frozen. Kairi snickered and raised an eyebrow. This sure was interesting for a certain redhead. Namine had to give herself a moment to regain her composure.

Oh, the impossible just defied itself completely tonight. The fact that he actually somehow randomly picked her request was mind boggling and embarrassing enough, but that wasn't the thing that bothered her. There was something else she did, because she didn't expect for something that impossible to happen.

She had written something in it. It wasn't the request; it was a short note. Roxas probably thought she was an idiot freak. It was like high school all over again.

Roxas looked behind his shoulder and nodded at the other band members. Suddenly, the keyboard was being played in an upbeat manner, and Roxas began singing. Namine's heart fluttered and took off. She had to admit, his voice was beautiful.

Namine was in awe, and her eyes stared at him with admiration. Surely, she could tell he was staring back a few times. She fought back a grin but wasn't successful. From what she saw, it seemed like he was a bit red in the cheeks.

_"And your eyes are the size of the moon_  
><em>You could 'cause you can so you do<em>  
><em>We're feeling so good<em>  
><em>just the way that we do<em>  
><em>When it's nine in the afternoo-"<em>

The music continued to play, but the angelic voice had disappeared. Roxas had halted and was standing near the edge of the creaky stage. He stood still in one spot though his knees seemed to sway side to side a little. Namine frowned and slowly took a few steps closer to the edge until she was actually just barely below where Roxas was standing.

His knees buckled underneath him, and his eyes rolled skyward. The music soon abruptly stopped, and the other four on the stage attempted to rush to his side, but it was all void. He fell before they could even put down their instruments properly. Namine gasped and let out a small shriek. She was completely befuddled when he landed on top of her. What seemed like monstrous weight forced her down to the grassy ground, and his sleeping face was so_, so_ close to hers.

"Namine! Are you alright?" Kairi spazzed and tried to drag Roxas off of her cousin. Namine was stunned and didn't move. She saw a blur of red and realized Axel had jumped off the stage to help. "Geez, I told him this was a bad idea," the flame-head muttered. He hauled Roxas over his shoulder effortlessly and offered a helping hand over to Namine.

"Sorry for the surprise," Axel said and pulled her up.

That didn't really matter. She was kind of used to being pushed the ground anyway... What mattered was Roxas. He just fainted! "Will he be alright?" Namine squeaked worriedly.

Axel gazed at her and merely shrugged as his answer. "It happens all the time to him. I'm just gonna go put him down on a bed."

Namine was hesitant. "Do you think it's alright if I come, too?"

Axel smirked and wagged a finger teasingly. "Why? Do you have a little crush on my Roxy?" he questioned with amusement flaring in his emerald eyes. Namine's cheeks flustered, and she looked down at her feet. It wasn't really a crush... She just wanted to know if he'll be alright once he wakes up. Yeah, that was it.

"I'm joking. Leave behind your little friend there," he gestured towards Kairi, "I don't want strange girls to think they can follow us, too."

Namine nodded hastily and informed Kairi that she would be going with Axel. Kairi argued a bit, but decided to find Selphie in the meanwhile. Axel led Namine to a hallway in the east wing, and asked her to open a door for him. The hinges squeaked and they two of them stepped in. She swore, this room was probably ten times the size of her own dorm room.

Axel dropped Roxas onto a disheveled bed, and huffed, twisting and turning his back until there were a few audible cracks. Namine slowly sat down next to the sleeping figure. "Is he sick?" Namine asked quietly.

"Anemia since childbirth. It's been a while since he's fainted, but tonight, it was really sudden. Just let him sleep for ten minutes, and he'll wake up. He must've forgotten to take his iron pills before the gig." Axel started to head towards the door and looked behind his shoulder to say something quickly. "Keep an eye on him while I go get his medication." With that said, the lanky man left the room, closing the white door behind him.

Namine sat there quietly. She simply watched him sleep. How long has it been by now? She blushed and looked away. She had probably been staring at him for about ten minutes already. He slightly stirred, and Namine caught a low grumble from his throat. "Roxas?" she called, lightly placing her soft hand on his shoulder. At turtle-speed, he slowly sat up, and massaged his head. He blinked confusingly as he realized Namine was sitting beside him.

"What're you doing here?" he asked groggily.

"Axel told me to stay with you while he went to go get your medication," she informed. "I think it's best if you lay down until he comes up."

Roxas brushed her hand away. "No, I'm fine..."

He shifted his body until he was sitting on the edge of the bed like Namine. Neither of them said anything, and the awkward tension literally begged for one of them to say something to break it. Namine twiddled her thumbs together in a circular motion. "I didn't expect you to pull out my song," she said in a timid voice. "I thought it was impossible." She looked down at her flats. "It was really embarrassing, too. What I wrote... it was just something I thought would fade, you know? Something a person writes, and they would be the only one who knows about it."

"You seem nice. Maybe if we were friends, we could get to know each other," Roxas murmured quietly. He turned his head and locked eyes with Namine. She blushed furiously, and felt like it was her turn to pass out. That look he was giving her. It made her irritation grow. He acted so stoic, and his eyes made him seem angry. A light, rude scoff escaped his mouth, and there was the slightest amused smile on his lips.

She knew all of this was stupid. It was like everybody was made to make jokes of her. She was still a person. A person who cared about what others thought of even though opinions shouldn't matter unless they were her own.

Her dull, cobalt eyes stung, and she battered her black lashes, trying her best to hide her tears. Her hands gripped the bed sheets, and she dug her teeth into her bottom lip painfully. She abruptly stood up onto her feet with a bounce. "I take it back. I don't want to know you," she spat bitterly with her back towards him. She didn't want to look at his stupid face. "If you didn't want to be friends, you didn't have to scoff at the idea." Even thought she didn't want to look at him, something made her whip around and give him whatever pissed off look she could offer. "I _loathe_ idiots like you. Wait, what am I even doing? I can't believe I was actually trying to get involved with people like you."

"I didn't think you were the type to rant when angry," Roxas said, a bit stunned.

Namine sighed and defeat and sat back down on the bed. She threw her face into her hands and groaned weakly. "What... am I even doing here anyway?" she asked, voice muffled. "My cousin forced me to come here to enjoy the night, but...this isn't me... Wearing ridiculous clothes that doesn't suit me, getting tipsy, standing in a crowd to listen to you sing, I don't really enjoy any of it."

Roxas chuckled. "I thought everybody did those things when they were still in high school." She shook her head and pulled her hands away from her face.

"Not me. Now, my college life is almost up, and this is my first time going to a party. I've never done anything my parents didn't want me to do, I got good grades; I am wonderfully talented. But they know talent won't pay the bills once I'm older. And soon, I'll be going back home to spend time with my family during Christmas, and they'll realize I'm still the same failure as I was in high school."

He frowned. "Failure? You seem to be way better off than me..."

Sighing, she continued speaking in a soft voice. "I have a choice. Continue on to the prejudice medical school in Destiny Islands after I'm done with this place which is what my parents want, or I can continue pursuing what I want and go to Hollow Bastion to be an artist and pianist," she paused and closed her eyes. "I don't want to disappoint them... Anyway, I didn't mean to dump my life sob story on you, but it felt nice to be able to tell someone, even if I don't like you."

She stood up and was about to walk away before Roxas had tapped his finger on her shoulder to get her attention. She turned around with confusion. "What?"

He rubbed the back of his neck. "We can still... be friends. If you want."

Namine pouted. "I want an apology," she stated bluntly and crossed her arms.

"I'm sorry," he deadpanned and put a hand out politely. Namine shook it with a quick jerk and smiled sweetly. "Friends."

Axel burst into the room with much charisma and had a bottle of pills in his hand. He was panting heavily before chucking the small white bottle at Roxas like a catapult. He slammed the door behind him and marched right up to Roxas and punched him in the shoulder with a quick fist. "Would it kill you to at least take your medication before you do anything?" Axel growled and huffed. The pyromaniac's temper always was a short fuse.

Roxas quickly popped one into his mouth, and stuffed the medication into his pocket. "Who wants to ditch this party?" Axel asked with a devious smirk on his face. Namine gulped and started to head for the door. That devious look he gave her only meant trouble, and Namine was not going to do anything that would get her into trouble. She was too pure for that, despite the face she played a drinking game that night.

"Namine, you can't just walk away that easily," the redhead shouted.

She fumbled with the door knob and replied, "But, you guys are probably gonna do something bad. That stuff isn't for me."

"It's not gonna be that bad. We're just gonna go movie skipping," Axel muttered. He ran a hand through his hair to muss it back up before speaking. It was a habit he had contracted ever since the start of high school. "Now, now, don't be a scaredy cat. Roxas is gonna come to, so what's there to be afraid of?"

"I never said I was going to," Roxas deadpanned and pocketed his hands into his jeans.

Namine smiled and gestured a hand towards Roxas. "See? He's not going. Plus, shouldn't you be with your band?"

"Replacements," Axel emphasized the syllables and snapped his fingers. "And it looks like we're off! C'mon, kiddies! Hold papa's hands." He smirked playfully and grabbed each of their hands and began dragging them out the door, and the way he was doing it practically caused Namine to continuously trip over her own feet. Roxas, however, actually made it look like this wasn't exactly the first time for him.

"Is there anything else besides movie skipping?" Namine asked hastily, trying to pry Axel's iron latch from her hand.

"Depends," he replied. He peered from behind his shoulder and asked, "What did you have in mind?"

"Better not be stupid..." Roxas commented, resulting in a pout from Namine.

"Well..."

x

"You can't be serious," Axel complained. He and Roxas were following Namine's lead as she walked around the shelves full of merchandise. A small, pleasant smile was etched onto her face as she guided them. Whatever they said- it didn't matter to her.

"How much longer do we have to be at this place?" the redhead whined once again. "You aren't any fun," he stretched.

"Do you have money?" she asked, lightly brushing her bleach blonde hair behind her ear.

"Yeah..."

"Buy some smoothies."

Roxas crossed his arms and had a smug look plastered on his face. Axel narrowed his piercing emerald eyes at the two, and his lips were straightened into a flat line. The skeptical expression he was giving them made Namine giggle, and she quickly ushered him out the door.

"What made you choose the art store?" Roxas asked suddenly.

"I like art stores." Simple answers.

"You don't even have any money for new supplies," he pointed out. Namine shrugged and picked up a sketchbook that had caught her eye like a black dot on a white wall. "It doesn't hurt to browse." She placed a slim finger on her lips and smiled. "It's like if you were at the music store. It's practically the same thing for you." She returned the sketchbook to its original place and turned around to face Roxas. "Let's go find Axel now, yeah?"

"If you want," Roxas said, "Just following you around." Like a dog.

Namine and Roxas quickly strolled across the parking lot and into the smoothie shop to look for Axel. He was standing in line for pick up while texting on his phone. Namine called out his name, and he twirled around. "Hey, smoothie's almost done. I got you a strawberry since I wasn't sure, and Roxas, one sea salt slush."

The quiet blonde's face seemed to brighten at the sound of Axel's word. Namine thought it was a little... adorable.

But he's still a cranky jerk, Namine thought to herself.

"Order number eight!" the cashier shouted and handed Axel his orders. He handed the other two their treats and they chose a small table to sit down. Namine could not believe how heavenly their smoothie tasted. What was this place called? For sure, she was coming back.

Namine sipped her drink and stared at Roxas from across the table. He was slouched in his seat, hair covered his eyes, and a green straw was stuck into his mouth. "Sea salt, huh?" she asked shyly. Axel chuckled. "You don't even have a clue of how much this guy can drink. It's originally an ice cream. Very rare, and hard to find in other places except Twilight Town."

"What's the name of this place?"

"Sweet Sunset," Roxas decided to answer.

Utter silence.

"So, Namine..." Axel took a quick sip of his drink before continuing, "I hear you attend Twilight University, too. What do you major in?"

"Art department. They don't really have a strong department in it, but it was the best I could get around here. How about you two?"

"We're both in the performing arts. Unlike art, our department's just slightly more popular. But it looks like they're going to shut one of down soon," Axel muttered. Namine's eyes widened, shocked. It was shutting down soon? They couldn't do that, could they? None of the professors told her anything about this. She tightened her grip around her drink and furrowed her brows.

"What for?"

"Not enough funds, of course, but they can't shut both of us down, it'll make 'em look bad, so it's take one out, and keep funding the other one, and from the rumors I heard from a personal friend of mine who works there, they're deciding to take down all you art lovers." Axel mimicked a gun with his hands and pretended to aim at Namine and shoot her. Soon enough, they were finished with their drinks, and Roxas to throw it away for them. Axel stood up and stretched his long, skinny arms. He yawned sharply and smacked his lips.

Namine did suit, but she was staring down at the floor sullenly. Axel glanced at her and raised an eyebrow. Did she really not hear about it at all? He seriously thought that that rumor had spread through the entire university. He nudged her shoulder with his fist and chuckled. "Lighten up, girl. I'm sure all you art freaks will find something to save your asses. At least, that's what people like you would do, right? Try to keep something important."

"Maybe not. I don't think all of us can raise enough money to fund all of the art programs. It's impossible."

Roxas came back, and the three of them decided to take their leave. Just when they were about to exit out of the door, Axel spotted something peculiar in the corner of the shop. A smirk curved onto his lips, and he used his finger to tap his chin. The look he gave both Roxas and Namine just screamed "let's-have-some-fun-no?"

Roxas narrowed his azure orbs at Axel and crossed his arms. "What're you staring at?"

"Photo booth."

Simultaneously, the two blondes rolled their eyes and sighed. "No, Axel. We should get back," Namine deadpanned.

"What she said."

Though, it seemed too late. Axel was already scrambling over to the booth. He was hiding behind the black curtain that was there for privacy. Namine shot a quick look at Roxas and shrugged, joining Axel to get it over with.

Roxas followed Namine and literally had to force himself in there. He grimaced, and he had to use the walls of the booth as support to keep himself from toppling on top of Namine. He out out air to shake his hair out of his eyes. He couldn't sit in the seat they had provided, because it was being occupied by Namine, so he ended up having to awkwardly stand up. One foot was on the ground, and the other was being held up by the seat. He looked down and found the back of Namine's head being pushed against his chest.

He gasped, but didn't move. He gandered at Axel, making sure the redhead hadn't seen the embarrassing moment of his.

Luckily, the goofy man hadn't seen anything. Apparently, he seemed to be too busy trying to wedge his way into a more comfortable position.

Roxas groaned inwardly. Why was he doing this? And why exactly was it getting warm in the booth all of the sudden. Oh God, he could practically smell a strawberry-like scent that her hair was emitting. His palms were getting sweaty from the warmth. Dammit, somebody just take the pictures!

"Okay, it's counting down," Namine warned. She clapped her hands together and giggled gleefully. Axel leaned his head in to keep himself in the shot. She put on the biggest smile she could, and Roxas stared at her. Her smile sure was pretty.

The first flash surprised him, and he felt his hand slip and skidded down the wall, and he lurched forward.

This was bad.

x

Namine could only stifle her laugh as she stared at the three pictures she held in her hands. This was just too good. She peeked over at Roxas and giggled when his cheeks flared red once again. Axel was still rubbing his mouth and tongue with a napkin and spat onto the side of the sidewalk.

"This isn't funny!" Axel complained. "He _kissed_ me!"

"It was an accident," Roxas corrected with a quick eye roll.

"That was too unexpected," she grinned, and handed the other two their copies. The first one showed a picture of Roxas with a concerned look while Namine and Axel had normal, bright smiles. The second one had Roxas slamming his lips onto Axel, and the last one had a red-faced Namine who was dying by her own laughter while Roxas stared at Axel in shock, and the redhead was trying to maneuver around Namine to strangle his best friend's throat.

"Somebody needs to warn me when I become best friend's with a secretive homosexual," Axel spat quickly and went back to rubbing his tongue.

"I don't have anything for you, dumbass!"

Namine smirked and skipped ahead of them. In a loud voice, she began singing. "Roxas and Axel sitting in a tree! K-I-S-"

"Shut up!" they growled in unison. She smiled and zipped her mouth. She didn't think hanging out with the two of them would be so much fun. The night seemed to be ending on a better note that she had imagined. She was surprising herself. She enjoyed being with them, and she felt like herself. She was always forced to do things she never enjoyed, but for some reason, even though she was forced to do whatever Axel said, she still liked it all. Or maybe it was really just...

_Nah, probably just the alcohol._

Five minutes later, they made it back to the party and stood on the front lawn, simply mingling among themselves. Namine asked for the time, and Roxas told her it was almost midnight. She sighed. She needed to be getting home soon. Just when Namine was about to tell them that she was going to head back to her dorm, she heard a familiar voice that made her pale.

_That sounded a lot like S-_

"Hey, little Nami, didn't think you would be the type to show up," Seifer exclaimed, approaching them. His expression just screamed that he was the cockiest person around. Namine peered behind her shoulder and their eyes met. She quickly whipped her head back around and prayed that somehow, something would intervene him from coming over here.

She just wasn't ready for this. The break-up between her and Seifer shattered her heart. She really thought he was "the one," but really, he was two-timing her with some girl that only uttered one or two words every once and a while.

When Roxas realized Seifer had called out a nickname of hers, he eyed her closely with a serious look. "You know Seifer?" the angry blonde hissed.

Namine whimpered. "Most recent ex-boyfriend," Namine admitted. "Oh, he's really coming over here."

"I can't believe you were Seifer's girlfriend," Axel said with slight amusement. He jabbed his thumb at Roxas. "Although, our little friend right here is quite... how do you say this? Infuriated."

"What do you have against Seifer?" Namine asked quickly. Before Axel could answer, Seifer came up from behind her and threw an arm around her shoulder. She could barely stand, because it seemed like he was weighing her down with his arm. She bit her lip and looked away.

Seifer sent Roxas a death glare and snorted. "Hey, babe, what are you doing hanging out with the losers?"

"Seifer, we broke up," she reminded quietly and pried his arm away from herself. "You did it yourself... over the phone."

"Naah, that wasn't true. I was just a little drunk when I said it."

_Sure, Seifer. You think that._

"You know I still love you."

"Leave her alone," Roxas warned. He stepped forward and grabbed Namine, pulling her behind himself. "You fucking dirtbag." Seifer came up so close to Roxas, their faces were only inches apart. "And, what are you gonna do about it, shrimp?" Sadly, Seifer was actually about a head taller than Roxas.

Roxas clenched his fists and could smell the disgusting alcohol breath. He hated how he had to tilt his head up just to talk to the asshole. Seifer pushed Roxas away from him and smirked. "Scared you gonna faint again, punk?" Namine gasped and tried to stop the dispute before anything happened, but Axel had grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to his side. He calmly stared at her with green eyes and shook his head. "It's better if you just stayed back." Namine frowned and sighed sharply.

It didn't matter if it was better for you. She was worried about Roxas's safety. She knew Seifer well enough to know that he was a fighter, and a dirty one, at that.

Then, Seifer made the biggest mistake of the night by saying something that sparked Roxas's rage. He said things that Roxas hardly ever talked about. Seifer was pushing his luck.

"I'll beat you down just like how I beat Ventus, and I'll take Namine just like how I took..."

Namine didn't catch that last part, but right when Seifer was finished saying his taunts, Roxas threw a flurry of fists at Seifer and knocked him down onto the damp grass with a heavy thud.

* * *

><p>Hope you enjoyed. I'm sorry if it wasn't as good as you expected, but whatever! If there's like some grammar error, sorry? I just probably didn't catch it (damn myself, I'm just loser). Now, excuse me as I go take a dump (just kidding...)<p>

When the next chapter comes out, do you maybe wanna... I don't know...

Come back? :D

(Cuz you know you want to.)


	3. Nightmare Before Happiness

Long time to update, yeah? Well, sorry.

My excuse? Schoooooooooooooooooooooool. I hate you.

Anyway, enjoy the chapter? Well, I doubt you can, cuz it was so poorly written, no time to proof read it, I wanted to get it on here before I leave for Las Vegas tomorrow. D:

* * *

><p><span>Red Fate<span>

- by -

_WASH IN WITH WAVES_

. x .

"_I didn't ask you to fight."_

. x .

"God created the flirt when he created the fool." -Victor Hugo

**the simple feeling of being**

_**scared**_

**- - Chapter Three - -**

_Nightmare Before Happiness_

.

..

Seifer stumbled onto the ground, and Roxas growled furiously. He knelt down sharply and grabbed Seifer's shirt, yanking up his neck so that their noses were almost touching. "Don't talk about her!" Roxas warned and slammed his scathed knuckles into Seifer's right cheek bone. There was a sickening crunch. It made Namine shiver in horror, and she had to force herself to look away.

Roxas didn't even give Seifer much of a chance to defend himself. The angered blonde kept attacking violently, and he was screaming like a child giving a tandrum.

"Call the cops!" a silver haired girl named Fuu shouted. This was the girl Seifer had been cheating with when he was still with Namine. That's what he told her when he broke up with her. Over the phone. That bastard...

Fuu whipped her head around, and glared at Axel with her single visible red eye. One of Seifer's gruff friends, Namine remembered him as Rai or something, came up from behind Roxas and snatched him up from underneath his arms. Rai was probably a head and a half taller than Roxas, and he was certainly stronger, at that.

Axel took this chance to react and help Roxas before things got even nastier. Namine could already see how much attention the brawl was gathering. Namine turned around to look at the spectators helplessly. None of them obliged to help break up the fight. She looked at Roxas to see what was happening. She noticed his eyes were slowly drooping. The look on his face made her heart ache, and she felt horrible when Seifer gave Roxas another gut searing punch.

Namine flinched and took a step back, but didn't expect to fall backwards and onto her bottom. For sure, she had stepped on something. She scanned the ground and found that an empty beer bottle was the reason. She slowly picked it up, and something inside her brain suddenly clicked like two chains. She glared at Seifer who did not pay an ounce of attention towards her. Everything needed to stop now.

She launched the glass bottle at him, and to her success, it had hit him square in the noggin, and it shattered on impact. He fell back down in surprise. His beanie had protected his skull from any cuts, but there probably would be a bruise. Namine smiled freely.

Roxas took this moment to grease himself out of Rai's iron lock, and pushed himself away. Roxas's face was bleeding because of the punches, and his cheek was starting to change to purple.

"Alright!" a voice called out. A tall man with a messy mullet fought his way through the dense crowd to the center. He gave a disdainful look when he spotted Seifer on the ground in front of him and groaned. "Who the hell invited the Lucifer's musketeers?" he asked childishly. "Get off of my property, you idiots. Coming onto our territory is probably the stupidest thing you've done all year, Seifer."

"_Whatever_, you dimwit. This party was shit anyway. And teach your dog some manners next time around." Seifer shot Roxas a sour look before gesturing for Rai and Fuu to follow. Axel had to restrain Roxas from jumping onto Seifer's back as he turned around. "Let it go," the redhead muttered almost inaudibly.

The hurt blonde glanced over at Namine, and his dark blue eyes scanned her over quickly. His gaze wandered, then he turned away quickly. She had the urge to approach him and tend his cuts and bruises, but being Roxas, he probably didn't want anyone to talk to him at the moment. She sighed and stood still in one place and just stared at the ground with solemn eyes.

"Hey, do you need a ride back to your dorm?" Axel questioned softly. "I think you've had enough for the night. You know, drinking and all." He smirked devilishly, and she smiled back weakly. The mood lightened up a bit.

"That was a bit unexpected, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, but come next party we go to, I so want a rematch. You see, I had a burrito that wasn't so good before the party started, and my stomach was upset," he continued to ramble from then on. Namine giggled at his poor excuses, and soon, the two of them were heading over to his car.

Before closing the car door behind her as she stepped in, she gave a quick sympathetic look over to Roxas. He wasn't looking her way, and probably wasn't even aware of Axel giving her a lift home. But, her head craved his attention. She wanted him to turn around at that moment and give her his blank gaze. She became flustered and scowled at herself. She was being a weirdo.

Namine sighed and pulled the seat belt over her shoulders. Axel soon stepped into the car and sat in the driver's seat. "Where do you live, girly?" She ignored the nickname.

"On campus."

The rest of the time spent in the car was silent. Namine felt exhausted, but couldn't bring herself to close her eyes and doze off. Instead, she stared out the window and offered a bit of her attention towards the street lights that reflected on her window.

Axel pulled up in front of the campus, and Namine exited his car. "Thanks for giving me a ride," she said quietly. He waved at her and replied. "Any time, you drunk." She frowned at this and lightly pushed the car door. He sped off, and Namine shivered as a cold, brief gust of wing brushed by.

She wrapped her arms around herself and hurried off to the dormitory building she lived in. She quickly ran up the stairs and found the room she and Kairi shared. _So much warmer in here_, she thought to herself. Stupid Kairi made her wear a skirt.

Namine scowled at nothing in particular and decided to change into something warmer. She crawled onto her bed and grabbed her phone that had been left behind when she left for the party. She looked through the text messages and missed calls.

From: Kairi  
>To: Namine<br>_Where are you? Can't find you._

Namine sighed and sent a reply saying she had gotten a lift back to campus.

_Two missed calls from Mom._

Oh, God. What could it be about now? No, it could have been anything. Anything _bad_. Namine hardly ever got calls that held good news, and when she did, it did not last long, because a spark would always set the two of them on edge.

She didn't want to deal with her mother at the moment. She was so tired, exhausted, and a little stumped. There was no energy left inside her to put up a possible fight against her mother, but putting off a phone call until later would just make everything worse. Namine was practically at war with her own conscience. She groaned and plopped herself down onto her bed, rubbing her temples.

_Call her. Call her. It's the right thing to do at the moment._

**Shut the hell up, Namine. Or I'll make you regret it.**

_I _am_ Namine. _

**So am I!**

"Oh God, just shut. Shut up," she muttered while jabbing her forehead with her knuckles. This was how much trouble her own mother causes her. Shakily, Namine picked up her phone again and scrolled slowly through her contact list. She was going to get this over with. She pressed the speaker against her ear and waited anxiously for anybody to pick up. She really hoped her mother was out somewhere without her cell phone, because she didn't want to deal with this pho-

_"Namine?"_

Nevermind.

Namine readjusted her position and sat upright on the edge of the bed. "Mom. H-Hey. You called me earlier."

_"Tch. Calling this late at night all of the sudden. Where have you been?"_

She scratched her cheek nervously. "Uh, I went to a party with Kai."

_"Excuse me?"_ She was screwed. _"A party? And what exactly did you do at this party?"_

"Nothing," she mumbled under her breath. Damn it. She should have just let that part out. Her mother never approved of parties or hanging out. In her opinion, all of that was a complete waste of time.

_"It better have been nothing."_

"Why did you call in the first place?"

_"Hmm, I wanted to ask you if you were still coming over for Christmas." _Her mother's mood has changed so suddenly to a light and cheery one. It made her mother seem almost bipolar, or have some type of personality disorder. Anyway, Namine was pretty sure she would be returning to Destiny Islands for a visit. Personally, Namine hated Destiny Islands. Everything about it. Moving to Twilight Town for an art degree was the best opportunity she could ever find. She hated the ocean, most of all. She didn't know why, but she felt closed in. For miles, she would look out her bedroom window and all that there would be was the _ocean_.

Going back to Destiny Islands would mean a whole lot of memories she didn't want either. She left that stupid place to escape her past.

"_Namine. Are you there?"_

The blonde artist snapped out of her thoughts and shook her head vehemently to regain her mind. "Y-yeah. I'll be coming back. Maybe Christmas Eve. Tickets get pretty expensive, anyway..."

_"Yes, that's true. You sound tired. Go to bed."_

"Okay. Bye, Mom." Namine realized the line had died, and she sighed heavily. She sure was tired of people. Could she even deal with life anymore? Sometimes, it felt like everything was too much for her to handle. Namine lay her head down on her pillow. She was awfully tired, but felt like sleep wasn't even trying to usher her.

As she was curled up into a ball on her bed, her stomach slowly started to twist, and she didn't feel good anymore. Was the alcohol really getting her back now? She bit her lip and closed her eyes.

Why couldn't everything just leave her...

alone?

* * *

><p><em>sleep no more...<em>

* * *

><p>Namine pried her eyes opened. Goodness, where was she again? Right, back at the dorm. She rolled over in her bed to peer at the digital alarm clock on the nightstand that stood between hers and Kairi's beds. Three 'o clock in the morning. She groaned and noticed a lump underneath a jumble of covers on the bed next to hers.<p>

So, Kairi finally decided to come back. Five in the morning, throbbing headache, and no sudden need to go back to sleep. Great way to start a very early morning. Just how Namine liked it.

She practically fell out of her bed when she attempted to get out. She stood up agonizingly slow and slipped out a pair of sky blue sandals. She grabbed her black striped-grey Volcom jacket and exited the dorm room.

What she liked most about the dormitory in this college was that they had placed a kitchen and lounge area on the first floor. It was quite enjoyable, and the girls usually used the lounge area to hang about with each other.

Namine brought a finger up to her lip and thought. She wasn't in the mood for making anything. She groaned. What was she going to do?

And that thought was interrupted by a suspicion-alerting thud behind the couch. Namine flinched and nearly flew back into the refrigerator. Panic arose in her eyes quickly. What in the world could that have been? A ghost? A creep who had sneaked in? Someone was messing with her, for sure.

Namine swallowed hard and mustered up the courage to call out to anything that could have been there. She really hoped this was all just a joke. Shakily, she spoke, "W-who's there?"

There was no answer. Oh, what was she supposed to do if there was really someone there?

"Seriously, if you don't come out, I'm gonna call the counselor do-"

Then a figure jumped up, and his arms flail around vehemently. Namine's mind blanched, and she nearly fainted from shock. That made her jump out of her skin. She swore. Her heartbeat was beating so rapidly, it felt like it would burst any second.

"Namine?"

She forced her mind to recover from the shock. She stared at the intruder incredulously, taking deep breaths. "Roxas?" she questioned loudly, completely confused.

"Shh!" the blonde hushed quickly. He cautiously tip-toed over to her and gestured her to stay quiet and calm as possible. Of course, that was not going to happen. "Why are you here?" she hissed.

Roxas shot her a glare and averted his gaze when he heard tapping from the hallway that lead to the stairs. His hand flew over Namine's mouth, and he pulled her behind the couch forcefully. She struggled to get his hand off, but it was practically glued. She blushed, then started to speak in a muffled voice.

Whoever was coming down the stairs better come over here and help her before this psychotic did anything stupid!

Namine raised a surprised eyebrow when she realized Axel was curled up behind the sofa with them, muttering something incoherent to her ears. She glowered at him with her blue-grey colored eyes, and he merely returned one.

"Hello? Anyone here? Huh, the lights are still on," a voice from the hallway said. _Oh my gosh, Selphie! Help me! I'm here! These psychos broke into the dorm and they've taken me captive!_

Then Namine had licked the palm of Roxas's hand. It felt _disgusting_. Roxas furrowed his brows and had furiously raised his fist in the air. Namine recoiled back and had grabbed his wrist tightly out of reflex. He bit his lip and lowered it in a swift movement. Namine shivered inwardly. He released such a bad aura every time she was with him. It was utterly ridiculous. She wanted to get away- far away, and yet, she was always somehow drawn back to him. In a bad way.

When Roxas heard the tap of the light switch, and the whole room was flooded with darkness, he pried his hand away from her mouth disdainfully. Namine stumbled up onto her feet and tiptoed over to the wall to hit the light switch. Once the lightbulbs flickered on once again, she whipped her head around to look at Roxas incredulously as he rose up to his feet from behind the couch.

"What do you think you're doing here?" she snapped at him in a hiss.

Roxas rolled his eyes. He brought his hands up in defense and tried to ease her anger. "I have a completely reasonable explanation for this. Drunk Axel wanted to sneak in to see his girlfriend. He decided it'd be a great time to fall asleep right when you walked in. That dumb bastard." He stared down at his best friend and scoffed.

Namine blinked. Hearing that this was all Axel's fault, it didn't seem to shock her as much as it would if it were someone else. This was Axel.

"Well, you can't stay here," Namine mentioned, feeling a little flustered about the whole situation. This was a girls' dormitory. Totally out of what's appropriate.

"On the contrary," Roxas objected slowly. Before he could continue, Namine shook her head fervently. "Just drive him home."

"We didn't exactly come here in a car."

Bad, very bad situation. "Carry him home."

"Namine, he's half a foot taller than me. I'm not carrying him all the way back to Demyx's house. By foot."

"I don't have any other alternative," she groaned.

"You do. You just don't want to say it." They both stared at each other flatly. From what Roxas could notice, Namine was going to remain obstinate.

"I am not going to let two guys stay in a girls' only dormitory. Especially when one of them is a drunkard," she articulated. It was three in the fucking morning, and her irritation sensitivity was shooting up like a skyscraper. "Find his girlfriend and hide in her room if you don't want to leave so bad."

Roxas frowned, his eyes down casted after a few awkward seconds. He rubbed the back of his head and attempted to look at her face, but it was too dark to see anything clearly. "She's not exactly... in a good mood right now. Part of the reason why Axel came down here was to apologize about something. His girlfriend almost tore off his face back at the party. She went into a cussing fit, and seriously pulled out knives right from her pockets. After throwing all the knives and deadly weapons she carried, she ripped out a strand of his hair, and it didn't look like she tried."

Namine cringed. Did someone like that really live in this building? Wait, yes. Someone like that did live in this same building. To think a college girl would have the guts to assault her own boyfriend through knives and fists. Namine figured out who it was after taking time to think about it. "Is her name_ Larxene Orele_?" Or _"Queen Bitch."_ The other girls seemed fond of that nickname of hers. Namine never had the audacity to actually use it even if Larxene wasn't around to hear.

"Yeah," Roxas answered awkwardly, "how'd you know?"

She shrugged. "Process of elimination."

"What does that have anything to do with knowing who Axel's girlfriend is?"

"I doubt there's any other girl in this dormitory that carries weapons in their pockets and has the courage to pull out her boyfriend's hair," she replied quickly and smiled. Roxas chuckled. A heart-warming chuckle. Namine was tempted to comment on it, but felt too embarrassed. Just thinking about it made her cheeks heat up.

Wait, her thoughts were trailing away from their objective: get rid of the two males. She had to.

Namine heard Axel muttered sloppily, and he propped himself up off the ground. "Whoa, where are we, Rox?" the drunken man asked groggily while rubbing his left eye wearily.

"Larxene's dormitory."

"Oh yeah," he replied in a dragged out recalling tone. His green eyes wandered over to Namine. Before he could give her a hello, she jumped up and started to mutter loudly.

"You two absolutely cannot stay here. Get out." She grabbed Roxas's arm and tried to pull him up with all her might. Why did guys have to weigh so damn much? "Get out or I'll tell the counselor!"

"H-hey, don't do anything hasty, girly," Axel eased. He stood up, swaying and slowly made his way over to the exit. Roxas didn't seem to budge. "Get out!" Namine hissed, continuing to tug on his arm.

He glared at her. "Let. Go. I can stand up by myself."

"What are you three doing?" a voice scolded from behind the dispute of the trio. Namine nearly jumped out of her skin from the startling surprise. Immediately, just like that, it felt like her heart was going into cardiac arrest. She whipped around on her heel.

"T-Tifa," Namine shakily addressed her counselor while twiddling with her thumbs. "Uh..." Namine peered behind her shoulder to share a glance with the two other intruders, but Axel was already attempting to tip-toe his way over to the exit with Roxas following behind him just as "stealthily."

"You two," Tifa stated firmly. She crossed her pale arms over her chest and leaned on her hip. "Not so fast. Get your asses over here."

Simultaneously, the best friends' shoulders slumped, and they dragged their shoes against the carpet floor and lined up beside Namine in front of Tifa.

Namine started. "There's a totally-"

"Reasonable-"

"Explanation," Roxas deadpanned. They looked at her with the most innocent look they could come up with at the moment. They were so dead.

Axel raised his hand up like he was just volunteering to speak first. "I'm drunk," he informed blandly. Tifa merely raised an eyebrow and tapped her foot.

"_Dragged_ here against my will."

"I just found them here."

Roxas rolled his eyes and scoffed. Namine glowered at him and elbowed him. It didn't seem to afect him. It only looked like he was being amused, despite the situation they were currently in. "Oh, Roxas. Care to share what you meant by your scoff?" Namine questioned with a bittersweet voice.

"It's just that you were lying to her," Roxas remarked with confidence and a shrewd smirk. He peered over and met Axel's eyes. "I mean, you were so insistent on telling us to come over. You just couldn't wait until tomorrow to hang out, but..." He trailed off from them and looked to the floor. His long spiky bangs hid a devious smile only Namine seemed to see. Then, she fully realized something that rammed into her mind like a meteorite crashing into earth:

If they were going down, she was going with. The two idiots that sneaked in were practically sending back and forth telepathic messages on how they were going to smoothly accomplishing Namine's reputation as a perfect, average girl. They were going to watch it burn like coal in a inferno.

If she had the energy to hyperventilate to the point where she would pass out, she would it. _They can't do this to me_, Namine screamed mentally.

The poor blonde artist looked at Tifa with desperation- with begging eyes. She prayed Tifa wouldn't buy Roxas's pack of lies. She opened her mouth, and excuses wanted to come pouring out. "That is not-"

"Enough!" Tifa ordered. "You," she articulated and pointed a sharp finger at Axel, "_drunk_?"

"I'm twenty-one," he shrugged off. "I'm completely legal." Tifa glared at him carefully, blinked, then looked away towards Namine. "One word. _Disappointment_."

Holy shit. Tifa actually bought it. All the lies.

"B-but, I didn-"

"Punishment. Community service on campus for a whole twelve hours. Tomorrow. I'm sure you don't have any classes, anyway. And you two, same as Namine darling here."

"But, we don't go here," Axel lied sheepishly.

Namine glared at him. Trying to take her down? She'll just return the favor. "Liar. You told me you did. Their names are Axel and Roxas, look them in the system. I'm sure you can find their... unique names quite easily, Tifa." She gave her counselor a sweet fake smile then sharply turned her gaze towards the two troublemakers. All they could do was glare hatefully. They deserved it! Those dimwits.

Tifa sighed and nodded. "Alright, guess our business is done. Namine, back in your dorm. You two, get. _Out_."

* * *

><p>Well, that was terrible. Have a great day, guys! Thanks for reading.<p>

Don't feel shy to leave a review while you're at it. Helpful criticism for me is never bad. :)


	4. Mirrors Don't Lie

Hey guys... haha, it's been a really, REALLY long time, and I apologize. My excuse? Shit's been happening. Sorry...

But I'm sure most of you understand. And others are angry, but whatever. The chapter's here now, so it's okay. Let's chill out.

Hmm, yes, I'm aware of the fact that this chapter is not as long as the ones before, and probably not as entertaining or good. It's really crappy, in my opinion. It was really stressing to write, because I didn't know what to put down. This is what I get when I don't plan out the first few chapters prior to publishing.

Anyway, here it is.

Have fun.

* * *

><p><span>Red Fate<span>

- by -

_WASH IN WITH WAVES_

. x .

_"It's stupid."_

. x .

**I've got nothing to say to you.**

But secrets will spill.

.

**- - Chapter Four - -**

_Mirrors Don't Lie_

.

..

Kairi kept an empty gaze plastered on the wall as Namine sat next to her with a bowl of Cheerios. The blonde munched on her breakfast sloppily and soon lost her appetite. She continued to eat her soggy food, however. "Feed me," Kairi drawled. "I'm so sleepy." A huge yawn escaped her mouth.

Namine handed Kairi her bowl and wiped her mouth with the sleeve of her _Monochrome_ brand sweater. Despite how expensive her clothing was, most of the time she treated them like rags. Taking care of clothes wasn't her thing; that was usually Kairi's hobby, being the fashion-holic that she was. She rubbed her temples and groaned in a hoarse, cracked voice. There was a terrible migraine she had been enduring and struggling with ever since her dormitory counselor, Tifa, had scolded her.

"So, what happened last night?" the redhead asked with another yawn. She stuffed a spoonful of milk and cereal into her mouth and slowly chewed like an old, rusty machine.

"Well," Namine hesitated, "got into a bit of guy trouble?" Kairi's eyes widened and nearly spilled the bowl of breakfast, and Namine shrugged with a hint of embarrassment. No doubt Kairi was going to maul her with her pile of questions and demands. Except, Kairi almost died by choking on her food before anything else happened.

Namine stared at her friend awkwardly as she fell into a coughing fit and tried to regain her composure. The blonde sighed and patted her choking cousin's back to calm down her system. Kairi had always been the "melodramatic" best friend/cousin type.

"Please," Namine said quickly before Kairi had the chance to begin her rampage. The blonde held up a single finger in front of the girl's lips. "Don't speak."

"Damn your hangover," Kairi swore and pouted, crossing her arms over her chest. "Who? What's his name?" Kairi still questioned curiously, much to Namine's dismay. Asking Kairi to not question the matter was already saying too much. Nothing could stop that chatterbox.

Namine gave up and pouted, puffing her pale lips out. "I've got twelve hours of on-campus community service, because Roxas and Axel sneaked into our building last night for Larxene." She leaned backwards and fell onto the bed, closing her eyes. "I came downstairs, and long story short, they decided to drag me down with them." Now, after that was done, it was time for another long hour of sl-

"_You've gotta be kidding me!_" And that was when Namine's ears exploded. The blonde chucked a pillow at Kairi and scowled at her. Namine whipped a glare at the boisterous girl and huffed, clearly aggravated. Hangovers do people no good! But, that's the fall back of ingesting that wretched sin in a bottle. Kairi shifted swiftly to face Namine. "Okay, look, Namine. I seriously let the whole thing about Roxas slide yesterday. You know, it's fine if you thought he was a little cute and all, because honestly, I do, too!"

Namine rolled her eyes. "Please hurry up and get to the point."

"You can't hang around him; he's bad for you, as cliché as that sounds," Kairi deadpanned with all seriousness. Namine's face scrunched up, and she cooperatively nodded her head in agreement. Kairi couldn't have said it better, because Roxas was a fat prude, anyway. "Couldn't have said it better myself," Namine muttered. She sighed. The previous night was just a hangout between three drunk college students, had it been she was sober, she would have loathed every minute with the two.

For one, they weren't the usual type of people she would hang around. Another was was that they were complete idiots who were up to no good. Sneaking into a _GIRLS ONLY_college dormitory? Were they out of their minds? And it was to "apologize" to the bitchiest girl (Larxene) in the building, who would have probably ripped their entrails out to use as garlands and decorations on her Christmas tree during their holiday break.

"Well, I gotta go get ready since you made me lose my appetite for sleep," Namine announced, annoyed.

Kairi pouted. "Already?"

Namine stuck out her tongue and left to go get dressed.

* * *

><p>"Sleep well?" Tifa the counselor snapped. Namine immediately hung her head and puffed up her cheeks. She blew her blonde hair out of her face and stuffed her petite hands into her old black high school sweater.<p>

Namine managed to grumble. She had a flashback of last night's unfortunate occurrence. "Fine," Namine forced in a sulking attitude. It obviously wasn't her day. It was nine o'clock in the morning, her mega-hangover still lingered, and she had to work for the next twelve hours straight for breaking dormitory policy (which, technically, she was completely innocent, but life just hated her guts). Of all days, she wished she had class, but no, she had none. None at all. Ugh. Sucked. And she couldn't wait to give a piece of her mind to those grown... bullies.

She growled bitterly and tightened her fist. She could only lecture them..._ if they showed up. _

"You're going to be in the library."

If she had something to smack her head against, she would have done it right away, because having to work and organize books in the library for hours and hours was comparable to hell. At least in her opinion. On the bright side, she thought, she wouldn't have to deal with the two idiots, because like they would ever make an appearance. They were just those type of people.

"Guess those two aren't going to show up," Namine mentioned, trying to smother her happiness before Tifa noticed it, but it was too late. Her counselor had cat eyes and saw anything.

She smirked, mischievously. "Oh, they're coming. I had a friend make sure that they be here on time." Namine gulped at the revelation. Just her luck.

"Hey, look here! It's your blondie!" a too familiar voice sounded. Namine cringed, shoulders scrunching and shriveling up, and forced herself to turn around on her heel creakily. Before her, the two negatives of her day. She felt like breaking down into tears. Well, not really.

There was another person with the duo. A man who was older by probably a few years, maybe even Tifa's age? Namine stared at him in awe, because at that moment, he had made it into her top ten most good-looking people list. He had blonde hair that had a murky shade, and his eyes were an icy blue that were almost like her own. And good grief, his skin complexion was probably better than hers.

Tifa beamed and nodded at the handsome man. "Thanks, Cloud. Well. anyway. You know, since you did bring the two of them here, I guess I'll have to agree to that date which was part of our deal," she stated a bit too loudly for Mr. Sexy's taste. Of course, it was obvious to everyone that she was just purposely trying to embarrass him.

Cloud muttered something along the lines of "pick you up tonight at six" before rushing off with a light pink hue painted on his cheeks.

Tifa snickered, not even trying to hide her amusement. "Well, you know." She shot a glance at each of them. "I've already checked your schedules. Doesn't seem like any of you have classes for the day, and if you have plans, cancel them unless someone's dying. It's like, nine right now. So you guys can stop working at about nine at night." Namine whimpered and slumped her shoulders.

Roxas frowned at this and stuffed his hands into his pockets. "Hey, we're working twelve hours?" he asked incredulously. Tifa shot him a rude look and scoffed.

"Twelve hours is what I said yesterday, but you _were_drinking last night, so I don't expect much," smirked and patted Roxas's spikes. Namine growled. She had the cruelest counselor. How does someone like her get a date with such a hot guy? Life really didn't function correctly sometimes. She sighed and forced herself to let it go. She mentally smiled to herself. There were other hot guys, too, like...

She shifted her blonde bangs away from her vision and took a peek at Roxas. She stared for about two seconds before she snapped out of it, and noted to slap herself later. No way. _Do not even think about it, crazy._

"Namine and broody, emo boy," Tifa said, causing Roxas to rip an irritated snarl, "will be working at the library. Talk to Zexion at the front desk, and he'll know what to do. Stupid redhead, follow me." Which Axel did reluctantly, leaving Roxas and Namine to go ahead and walk to the college library themselves.

It was a silent walk. No words were exchanged as they walked, which of course, was seriously awkward for a shy girl like Namine. She couldn't make up her mind whether or not she should try to spike up a light conversation. He was those type of guys where they were naturally mysterious, and being a girl with no real taste in guys, Namine felt like she had to know more about him.

They arrived at the front entrance of the library and before going in, they exchanged wary glances with each other. Both had the same message. Neither wanted to be there. Then she remembered she was supposed to be giving Roxas a piece of her mind. Her expression quickly contorted into one of irritation and resentment. She glared at him then whipped her head in the opposite direction with a sharp huff. Namine was the first to stride in.

Immediately, the odor of library books slapped her sense of smell, and she wrinkled her nose. All libraries had that weird smell, and she wondered if they had their own secret air freshener line. But it wasn't exactly a freshener... maybe just a stink.

"Whatever," she hissed to herself, forcing her weird mind to forget the matter. Zexion gave her and Roxas the jobs of arranging the books back in order and place, and it was to be one hell of a job. She huffed and rubbed her temples, trying to prepare herself.

She helped Roxas load books onto one of the carts, and he began pushing it towards the nonfiction aisle. Namine grabbed a few random books and looked at the reference, then the titles. "Teen romance?" Who would even check these out. Shouldn't the campus library have more books about references and research? She shook her head and began weaving her way through the shelves of books.

* * *

><p>To Namine, this was ludicrous. For at least three hours, she had been running back and forth doing her job, but the amount of returned books seemed endless.<p>

Exhaustingly, she grabbed another bundle of books and found the section they were meant to stay in. As she tried to push a book back into place, right across from her was a Roxas with a pretty emotionless demeanour. He was flipping through a thick-looking book, and his rich blue eyes were scanning the words. Namine blushed, for some damned reason. It was a good thing he hadn't noticed her, because she was (creepily) looking at him intently.

Namine quickly stuffed the book back in to where it belonged and returned to the cart. But it was empty. She asked Zexion if there were any more, and he had replied with a nearly silent no. Any other jobs? Nope. But they couldn't leave the library. Why? They were on lockdown until something came up which needed their assistance.

So, Namine and Roxas were sitting by a window on the second floor. Namine was lying on the floor, checking her phone off and on in case she received a text. Sadly, it seemed like nobody felt like talking to her today, and Kairi was in class. She didn't want to bother her cousin in her studies.

Namine sighed and twirled her hair with her slim finger. What to do? She looked at Roxas, who was reading away. He didn't even look like the type. She groaned. This was the worst and most boring punishment ever. It was like an extended detention.

_You could try to talk to him, _a voice whispered in her head. Namine bit her pink lips. _Idiot! You're supposed to mad at him!_

"So..." she started. "What if we starve?"

Roxas stared at her with a tilted gaze because his head had been leaning against the brick wall. "What?"

Namine shrugged her shoulders and sat up. "What if we starve? We can't leave for another nine hours."

"We'll ask Zexion to get us food."

"But, he's the librarian."

"I know him," Roxas retorted. "Very well."

"But, he never leaves."

"He eats, too, y'know."

"But, he left for his lunch break an hour ago. Do you think he'll go out again to get some food? The cafeteria isn't far from the library."

Roxas glowered at her. "Can you shut the hell up? You're being fucking obnoxious. Just go find something to do."

A squeak wiggled its way from her mouth. Namine felt her cheeks warm up, and her face was definitely a shade of red, probably scarlet. Roxas was right. She _was_being obnoxious. Whenever she was in an awkward situation, she would ask a lot of weird questions. Yet another flaw of hers that was not controlled well enough. "S-sorry," she stuttered and stared at her lap.

"We won't eat until we get out. Just deal with it."

There was a brief moment of silence. "So... how long have you had anemia?" she asked, trying to maintain a whisper. Roxas was in the process of turning the page of his book when she had inquired him. He nearly tore the edge of the browning paper off, because he had frozen in mid-action so abruptly. His thumb wrinkled the edge, because he was exerting so much pressure on it between his fingers.

"A while," he answered flatly. "What's it to you?" He raised a curious eyebrow.

"Nothing. Just wondering." She paused. "So, what're you reading?"

Roxas flipped his book around so she could see the cover. Namine squinted her eyes to get a clear glimpse. "_The Life of John Lennon..._you like the Beatles?" she asked. At the same moment, she caught a little sparkle in his eye, but his facial expression remained still and stoic. He shrugged in response and replied, "They're all right." Roxas blinked. Namine searched her brain for anything to say, and the only things that came out were a mixed up sentence, stuttering, and then a flabbergasted cloud of noise and blubbering. She covered her face with her hands and stood up.

"I need to go to the restroom," Namine lied and hurried off. She needed to get away before something else went into ultimate awkwardness.

Roxas breathed, running his finger across his forehead. "Yeah..."

* * *

><p>Zexion locked up the library, and the two blondes had finally completed their gruesome twelve hour service. Namine groaned and graciously sucked up all the fresh air around her. She was free- free of the throat-choking library stench she had to endure all day.<p>

"You wanna get something to eat?" Roxas said, with a bland and boring tone like always. Namine stared at him and shook her head fervently as she rolled her blue eyes.

"I think I've had enough of you for today," Namine remarked which was something she wouldn't normally do, but hell, she was cranky, grumpy, you name it. She was downright exhausted. _And remember, you're angry at him. Angry... Angry. Angry. Ang-_

He shot her an offended look and shoved his hands into his pocket. "I was just offering," he grumbled. Namine quickly tried to take back what she said and apologized with a weak voice. "Sorry... I'm not exactly in the right mood at the moment." Wait, but it was his and Axel's fault that she's so tired, right? What was she apologizing for. Namine growled and smacked her forehead. She decided it would be best to just go back to the dorm and immediately go to bed before she made a fool of herself.

She noticed Roxas pull out an orange transparent bottle and there was a soft rattle. He twisted the cap off and emptied one pill into his hands. Throwing his head back, he swallowed the white pill without the need of water. Namine gulped and licked her lips. His medication, she thought. Then all of a sudden, she felt bad about snapping back at him so harshly. Honestly, Namine had pitied him. Of all things, he suffered anemia his whole life.

Namine smacked her forehead repeatedly once again. "Stupid, stupid, stupid..." She wasn't sure if she was supposed to hate him or treat him like he truly was a decent person.

"Don't hurt yourself," Roxas chuckled. There was a small smile on his face, and Namine blushed. "Geez, what's wrong with you?" he asked in a teasing voice. Namine screamed in her head. _What's wrong with me? What's wrong with_ you!

"Uhh," she stammered embarrassingly. "Duh... uh, nothing." Namine blinked as she watched him smirk with much amusement. Then at the same moment, her stomach growled like she hadn't eaten all day. Oh right, it's because _she didn't_.

"You sure you don't wanna get food? I'll even buy for you. It'll be an apology dinner for what happened last night."

Namine stood, and contemplated for a long while. _He's bad for you... _Kairi's voice rang throughout her conscience. Namine wondered if a tiny Kairi would appear beside one of her shoulders. Another guilty rumble called from her stomach. A grimace grew on her visage and she placed a hand on her hip. The starving blonde artist began marching off ahead of him, letting herself lose to hunger. Roxas was going to pay, anyway. Why say no to a free meal? "Let's get fast food"

* * *

><p><em>"I love you, Seifer."<em>

_"I... love you, too, Namine."_

_"That makes me really happy."_

_"Yeah..."_

* * *

><p>Namine slurped her chocolate milkshake and ignored the frostbite her brain was having. The pain in her stomach was beginning to settle as she snatched up more waffle fries and took a huge chunk out of her cheeseburger. She use a pure white napkin to wipe her mouth. "Thanks for buying," she mumbled and leaned back in her side of the booth. "So like, why are you buying me dinner?"<p>

He raised his eyebrow. "A friend can't buy a friend dinner?" Namine's cheeks were flushed and she tried to hide her face with her hair. Roxas stared at her intently. "What's the whole history..." he started but stopped short.

"Whole history of what?"

There was slight hesitation. Roxas's eyes shifted around, begging his brain to give him the right words to say. "You and Seifer."

"Oh." There was a pang in her chest. Namine sighed and suddenly, the condensed water droplets on her milkshake cup became very intriguing as she watched them slide, bring their little friends along as they ran down. "I met him here at the university when I was a freshman. We dated for like, three years, and he broke up with me about two weeks ago." Namine waved it off with her hand and shook her head. "It was stupid."

Roxas snorted. He gave her an incredulous look. "You dated him for _three years?_How did you survive?"

Namine giggled and leaned her head back against the booth. "Shut up. He's a huge charmer, y'know. And back then, he wasn't anything like he is today. When I met Seifer, he was clean. sharp. and proper." She involuntarily smiled as she remembered the past. She remembered how timid he was when he first met her and asked her out. That was the Seifer she fell in love with. "But he got involved with some things he shouldn't have. Drastically changed and all. Somehow still managed to treat me somewhat the same. I didn't really think about ending the relationship until he did it himself. Over text message. I also found out he had been seeing Fuu and some other girl during the last nine months of our relationship."

Roxas shrugged and sipped his soda. Namine noticed that he tensed up after the last sentence. "Seifer's a douche. What can you do. It's also hard to imagine him

Namine nodded in agreement and was pulled back to reality. The Seifer she knew and cherished was long gone and it was time to get over it like a big girl. He wasn't going to stay forever, anyway. "Now it's my turn. What was your deal?" This was her chance. It was her chance to find out about what happened at the party the previous night.

"What do you mean?"

"At the party. You totally snapped when Seifer was about to say something. Um, something about messing you up like he did to... somebody you know?"

_It was curiosity that killed the cat._

A spark ignited, and there was pure anger and hatred in his eyes. He clenched his fists and furrowed his eyebrows. Namine regretted asking. "You don't have to talk about it," she blurted quickly. "I was just wondering, but..."

"He was talking about my brother."

_But cats have nine lives._

"Your brother?"

"My twin brother," Roxas corrected and sighed. "I don't know. Maybe a year ago, they got into some fight along the sidewalk when they were walking past each other. Seifer played dirty, and... pushed him into the street and a car... ran into him." Namine gasped. Now she really hated Seifer. That jerk...

"Is... your brother okay?"

"Yeah, he's fine now. The accident broke his leg; concussion. And he was in a long coma, _and_ he was blamed for starting the fight, too. So, Ventus got charged with assault. Technically, it was just a warning, but... Seifer got away scot-free, because he said he was only doing self defense. But I know Ventus didn't start that fight, because he _never_starts a fight. It isn't his thing, and Seifer's a hot headed prick. Which means he is the type to start a fight."

_So his name is Ventus_... Namine thought. She felt like she had heard that name somewhere before... though it could've been anyone.

Roxas sighed again, but this one sounded exhausted and pained. "I cover for Ventus alot, because I don't want anything happening to him. It's so stupid, y'know? We're adults and we're still acting like kids. I'm not just pissed at Seifer, but at Ventus, too. He's not gonna just go to juvie. He'll end up in a real prison, then his whole future's ruined. And I can't let that happen. I swear... Seifer's gonna get what's coming to him one day." Namine caught him as he used his wrist to brush both eyes.

"I guess I'm just tired," he mumbled.

"I think I pried enough for the night," Namine laughed dryly, the tension in the air dissipated slightly.

"You're really weird. I feel like you hate me sometimes, and other times..." She couldn't put it into words, she didn't have to either, because the nod Roxas gave her showed her that he understood what she was trying to get at. Namine waited a moment more to see if he could give her an explanation as to why he was like that.

"Let's get back."

Namine smiled softly. "Yeah." And she smothered her inner disappointment.

* * *

><p>Whoo! And thank you for reaching the end of this really weird, wannabe-drama chapter. There were probably quite a few grammar errors I didn't catch. I'm just in a hurry. I know. Let's just pretend it was decent. Hope to hear from you guys! Come back for more.<p> 


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